Seaweed Extract Holds Promise as Lymphoma Treatment

Seaweed offers the widest range of minerals of any food, as well as plant compounds called lignans, which have cancer-protective properties. New research presented at a recent cancer conference notes that seaweed extract holds promise as a treatment for lymphoma, a disease classified into Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s types.

Mohammad Irhimeh, PhD, assistant professor of hematoncology and stem cells at the Hashemite University in Jordon, noted that “some forms of B-cell lymphoma are especially resistant to standard treatment and thus new therapies are needed.” He and his colleagues presented new research at the second AACR Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research held March 7-10.

In their research they used a commercial seaweed extract to treat lymphoma cells and discovered that the extract inhibited the growth of lymphoma cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

Seaweeds contain fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide located in the cell walls of many species of brown seaweed. Previous research has shown that fucoidan has antitumor and antiangiogenic (meaning it prevents the growth of new blood vessels, which nourish cancer cells) properties.

Irhimeh and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, and Royal Hobart Hospital in Australia, also observed indications that the seaweed extract was associated with apoptosis, a process by which cells essentially commit “suicide.”

The findings of this study regarding the activity of seaweed extract on lymphoma cells have prompted the investigators to look forward to additional research with the goal of conducting phase II or III clinical trials. Seaweed extracts hold promise of a new treatment approach for the tens of thousands of people who have or who will be diagnosed with lymphoma.

More info